Stolen Messages
by Songbird's Spirit
Summary: Dylan Gould wasn't the only human in league with the cons. One family has decided they've had enough and have stopped giving information, but the cons don't know it. After all, the daughter still wants to live. Good thing her father leaves the computer unlocked. (Possible future Romance/Undecided)
1. Chapter 1

**Stolen Messages**

**Rating: T**

**Summary: Dylan Gould wasn't the only human in league with the cons. One family has decided they've had enough and have stopped giving information, but the cons don't know it. After all, the daughter still wants to live. Good thing her father leaves the computer unlocked.**

**~o~ Dakota ~o~**

For the past few weeks dinner time had not occurred without a thick fog of tension rolling in. The house was holding its breath, waiting for the next explosion to happen.

Much like it was now. The only sounds coming from our kitchen were the clinks of silverware against the china plates and the occasional mutter of 'pass the breadbasket…please'. Admittedly, even I was waiting for the emotions to give way for the yelling.

"I'm done living like this Richard." My mom lit the fuse.

_'Oh please don't do this now,'_ I begged silently.

"Helen, let's not start this now." My father said calmly.

"How can you be so calm about this?" She seethed.

_'And in 3…'_

"This is ridiculous."

_ '2…'_

"Helen please calm down."

_ '1…'_

"THEY ARE OUT THERE WATCHING US! THEY'RE MAKING SURE WE CAN'T TURN AND GET THE HELP WE NEED!" My mother exploded.

"Boom…" I muttered under my breath.

Before the argument could get too heated I stood and cleared my throat. "May I be excused?" I asked.

My father simply gave me a look and I quickly cleared out of the room. I put my plate in the sink and dashed past my parents and up the stairs. Upstairs, I was greeted with the sight of an open office door…my father's door was open and unlocked!

A spark of adrenaline was released and I instinctively reached for the alien looking hard drive in my sweatshirt pocket. I cast a wary glance at the stairwell behind me before silently darting into his office. The screensaver on his laptop was dim but still running. I all but dove to wiggle the mouse and turned down the sound, taking note of where the dial was so I could replace it later. I plugged in the hard drive and made a mad dash to copy all the disk drives onto it. It was nerve-wracking. I was stealing from my dad…

But I needed to if I wanted to stay alive and keep my family that way too.

Dylan was dead. People took notice of his declaration in the center of the battle. Police never stood a chance. When all the commotion died a little it seemed not even an act of god could save Dylan from the rioting crowd of people who sought his blood for having a hand in the deaths of their loved ones.

By the time the police got through there wasn't much left of Dylan. It hadn't ended pretty, but in all the commotion no one bothered to take names as the once ravenous crowd took off in all directions. Now the carefully woven web of information Dylan had held together was falling apart, leaving the Decepticons to try and hold it together. Their methods made Dylan's look like a cakewalk.

Finally the download was complete and I quickly deleted the memory, returned the sound to its original place, and got the hell out of there. I sprinted to my room, the first door on the opposite wall, and tried to quietly slam the door shut.

My heart pounded in my chest. That was going to give me a heart-attack one of these days…

My father was a minor, but important, source of Dylan's. We were still handing out information, well kind of. My mother and father agreed they were done but didn't know how to say it without getting killed by the cons. So, my father simply stopped dropping off information to Barricade in the old lot under the city freeway.

I had met the cons. I was scared shitless by them. Frenzy wasn't as bad as his masters and neither was Ravage. If you got past Frenzy's glitches and Ravage's evil looks there were both pretty…mellow I guessed. But for all I knew it was just a guise.

I had convinced the Decepticons that people were starting to get suspicious of my father and he was having me deliver the information instead. They believed it, thank god. But I couldn't keep this up for forever…

Ravage and Frenzy were okay with me, Lazerbeak…not so much. He hates everyone, and found it amusing to shoot at my feet and watch me stumble around. If Soundwave was going to kill us, he'd deploy Lazerbeak and we'd all die.

I clutched the flash drive tighter.

"We're in too deep…" I whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Stolen Messages **

**Rating: T**

**Warnings: Eh, some violence on Lazerbeak's part…**

**Enjoy the chapter. **

**~o~ Dakota ~o~**

I woke up early that morning. Deliveries were made early on Saturday mornings. I hopped out of bed and quickly dressed in an oversized silvery sweatshirt, knee-length black sweatpants, and black/blue tennis shoes. I brushed out my hair quickly and tied it up in a ponytail before grabbing one of the six flash-drives left on my desktop.

At most, I had six more weeks to live…

I tiptoed downstairs and took my house key from the hook next to the garage door. I unlocked it and slipped into the garage, making sure to gently close the door behind me and waited for it to click. I walked around my parent's vehicles and retrieved my bike from the side of the garage. I rolled it over to the doors and slowly lifted them up. Slipping out with my bike, I lowered the door to the ground and mounted my bike.

I kicked off and began coasting down my street. Our neighborhood wasn't a shady place, it was relatively nice. But there were certain areas to avoid. Some of the older boys liked to claim different areas of the place as theirs and nobody crossed those areas. They got territorial, and then they got violent.

The morning was fresh and a bit dreary. Grey clouds dimmed the sun and the wet coldness was unavoidable. I shook off the affects of the weather and peddled into the city. Our neighborhood was relatively close to the city…or town depending on your view of it.

I came near the multiple underpasses, waiting for a sign telling me which one to go in.

The underpass was filled with abandoned cars, and Ravage allowed himself to be seen lounging on an old Chevy Pickup truck. I steered to the underpass and Ravage blinked at me lazily. I hesitantly gave him a small skritch behind the ears and he purred appreciatively.

I leaned my bike against a support beam and Ravage stretched behind me.

I moved along, Ravage bounding from car to car until landing beside me with a small clink, flanking my right side. Frenzy popped out from under the hood of another truck and flanked my left. He proceeded to babble on and on in his native tongue about something. I didn't know the language, so I pretended he was talking to himself again.

Lazerbeak was waiting for us. And with Frenzy's babbling it would have been hard for him not to know we were coming. Lazerbeak squawked as he dove down to alert Barricade and Soundwave, catching Frenzy's attention. The bipedal symbiot grinned and chased Lazerbeak, agitating the falcon-like charge. Ravage rolled his eyes and nudged my leg.

"At least you're sane." He purred lowly.

"I guess his separation from Rumble is doing some damage…" I mused.

"Could be," Ravage agreed, "But the human database, the Internet, messed with his programming as well."

"Ah, is it that bad?" I asked softly.

Ravage rolled his shoulders as he leapt to a higher point to walk. "It can be; the top layer of the Internet, the stuff you search through, is almost five or six times smaller than the dark side of it."

"Dark side…?" I murmured.

"Dakota…" A harsh voice interrupted our conversation.

"Barricade," I nodded to him.

The red-eyed enemy gave me a look and I looked away. "So, your father is still under surveillance?" Barricade asked suspiciously.

"Yes, I came out today. He said he'd tell me when I could stop. Until then, I will continue to deliver the files." I said.

"Hmm…smart man." He rumbled his engine, "File?"

I took the small drive from my pocket and held it out. Lazerbeak dove from the side and snatched it up. He clipped my thumb, cutting the flesh. Red liquid, blood, flowed from the open wound. I winced, biting back a snarl. After Barricade got the drive he flicked the bird's sensitive wings.

"Careful you bitchy underling." He snapped, "We still need her alive."

I swallowed a thick lump in my throat but kept silent otherwise.

"You are dismissed fleshling." He waved me away.

I nodded and backed away a bit first before turning and walking away. A small scorpion Decepticon, about the size of my hand, scuttled up beside me.

"Sensor…" I scowled.

I jumped as the little scorpion-like alien exploded with a small bang as it was hit by a few bullets. Ravage passed by me, scowling a little.

"I always despised that stupid virus." He grumbled.

Frenzy came up behind me giggling like a mad-man. "Hi Dakota…" he snickered.

"Hello Frenzy." I sighed.

"What're you doing today?" he asked.

"I don't know." I answered truthfully.

"Mmm, can I tagalong?" he asked and wrapped his arms around my neck and hung like that.

I sighed. "I don't know Frenzy; last time you tagged along I got shot by the police…four times." I grumbled.

"So-sorry," he began to spasm and fell to the ground, "Ha-h-haha-hahahaha!" he began to laugh.

Lazerbeak snickered, "There he goes again, frizzing."

"Shut up Lazerbeak." Ravage growled and smacked Frenzy's head.

The bot got himself together and popped back up to his feet. "Hi." he said slightly dazed and confused.

"Hey," I nodded and picked up my bike.

"You're bleeding…" He said bluntly.

"Yup," I nodded.

He thought for a moment. "Can I come with you to town?" he asked again.

I sighed and held out my hand. "C'mon…" I muttered.

With a giddy clap the cassette transformed into a CD player which I picked up off the ground. Ravage gave me a grin as I hooked the Decepticon in disguise on my bike hook and headed for the Bean Lounge, our local version of Starbucks.

**~o~**

**I wanted to get this out before I turned in for the night.**

**G'night guys, happy reading…**

**Songbird 0.o**


	3. Chapter 3

**Stolen Messages III**

**Thanks for the Favs/Follows/Reviews! Feedback is always appreciated! To my reviewers:**

**Kakashishot: It does kinda seem like that doesn't it? That's a different way to look at it. Thanks for the review!**

**Summerflower13: Thanks!**

**Autobotgirl2234: Okay…thanks for reviewing? XD Seriously though thanks!**

**Thanks again to all of you! Here's the next chapter!**

**~o~ Dakota ~o~**

I was starting to wonder what I could do now. I had Frenzy latched to the front of my bike in CD player mode; that was odd enough. To make matters worse the alien-in-disguise would let out random spickets of noise or random music clips before silencing again. I assumed it had something to do with his glitched processor. The Internet had _really_ fritzed his systems.

"Where exactly did you want to go Frenzy?" I asked.

"Hmm…oh I know," he giggled through the speakers.

Before he could continue I frantically turned the volume down. Damned Con' was going to get me caught…or maybe something worse.

"Hello?" Frenzy called as best he could with his lower sound range.

"Sorry," I missed his words when I'd zoned out, "Run that by me again."

"I said I wanted to go to the school! I want to see all the innocent little chitlands we're going to crush one day." He sighed contently.

His tone and idea alone were disturbing enough. But his demeanor was what scared me the most. Thank god it was Saturday, so I could shoot that idea down quickly with reasons to back me up.

"It's Saturday Frenzy, there's no school on Saturdays." I said.

"So?" he drawled in annoyance.

"_So_…no one will be there." I elaborated.

"Oh…" I could practically hear his frown, "Then where _can_ we go?" he groaned dramatically.

I thought for a second and realized I had no good answer. Where exactly was I supposed to take a CD player that just so happened to be a slightly sanity-devoid alien who could also transform into a robot with CD shuriken which he used to kill people without remorse? It was like answering one of those super hard questions on the exams everyone ends up missing.

I suddenly got an idea.

"I've got the perfect place." I hummed.

**~o~ 20 Minutes Later ~o~**

The Ballpark was absolutely perfect. It wasn't a stadium, but an old, overgrown, neglected, and practically abandoned park that everyone had practically forgotten about ever since they added the four acre atrium to the mall about twenty minutes away from my house if you took a car.

The thing used to be a fun place. It was basically this six mile stretch of cracked concrete and soccer fields about a quarter of a mile in the woods near the elementary in the town. No-one really goes back here because they let it get so overgrown.

But for me and Frenzy it was perfect. The equipment here was really old and worn, so no-one bothered to come and get after it was practically abandoned. So I got to watch Frenzy try and utilize some of his apparent sport skills he claimed to have downloaded off, you guessed it, the internet.

Apparently studying YouTube videos is the same thing as downloading to him. I would admit his baseball accuracy was off the charts but if I managed to avoid his elbow jabs on the basketball court then I had him beat.

Playing baseball and basketball with Frenzy seemed so unlikely in any scenario. But I guessed he was just reacting to his mech competitiveness. I _had_ challenged him to a game of ball earlier and after we gave a poor attempt at some smack talk on the way here he was convinced he could beat me just as perfectly as he had with trading insults.

I knew he had cheated, but he had found some really good responses in a short amount of time given how long it took me…or even Lazerbeak to scan all of those Internet sites.

I briefly wondered if I dared to risk asking Barricade if organizing something as big as the Internet was possible for a Cybertronian or if that was too big even for them.

But back to Frenzy. Coming out of my daydreaming, I saw Frenzy had paused his basketball practicing. I cocked my head to the side in confusion. "Frenzy, are you alright?" I asked.

He gave me a look. "I think I hear Ravage, but I'm not really sure." He answered.

"Can you scan and make sure?" I suggested and he looked right at me before nodding.

A moment later he dropped the basketball and was suddenly just gone. I whirled around in the direction of the sounds of metal slamming against metal. I was on my feet and sprinting through the tall grass to get to the badly neglected and buckled concrete sidewalks. My footfalls somehow seemed louder in my ears than the other sounds.

I panted as I managed to see what was going on and gasped, quickly hiding behind…a tree.

Well, it had been tree or be seen.

I panted out of exertion and shock. Frenzy had been fighting with an Autobot I recognized from his and Barricade's as Rewind. It was an Autobot…

An _Autobot!_

"Oh no, I'm screwed!" I whispered in horror.

That Autobot recorded everything and had the ability to stream back information in live feeds according to Ravage and his own encounters during Autobot base infiltration missions…

Seeing as Rewind had just recorded Frenzy…playing a game of ball with a human girl…

There was no way in hell that hadn't just been streamlined. Something like that would catch attention. If they weren't on their way now…the Autobots of course…they would be soon. And if I wasn't caught here…they'd do it later.

Knowing Barricade to some extent meant I had a good idea of what they would do.

Like Sector Seven had done, again this was according to Ravage, the Autobots and NEST would strike when I was where one should consider a safe place.

When I was at home.

My family would be found out if that happened…

Oh god…Oh god…

Oh shit!

**~o~**

**So, that's chapter three! I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review!**

**Songbird 0.o**


	4. Chapter 4

**Stolen Messages IV**

**Hi guys, I'm back with the next chapter! Please enjoy and maybe leave a review!**

**I don't own transformers and if I did Jazz would be alive and Sunstreaker would have been with his twin in ROTF. **

**~o~**

I felt my breathing get heavier as the sounds of metallic fighting went on just beyond the tree I was hiding behind. I turned and crept forward, away from them, only to turn my head back to the front and see another minibot that happened to be another symbiote of Blaster's.

If I remembered correctly, this one's name was Steeljaw…he was cat-based like Ravage.

"Are you alright miss?" Steeljaw asked and took a step forward.

I freaked. "G-get away from me!" I sprinted to the side where the entrance would be.

"Hey, wait up!" Steeljaw ran after me!

I ran faster, sprinting, so he wouldn't catch me. I wouldn't let him. I didn't think running would be a problem for him either however…

A cop car came streaking down the street as I scrambled for purchase on the sidewalk after trying to make a sharp turn out of the woods.

_'Oh god, please don't let that be Prowl…'_ My subconscious begged.

As it came closer I managed to read the inscription on its door.

'_To Punish and Enslave'_

…!

"Barricade!" I shouted.

He sped up and opened the door the moment he was beside me. The door flung open by itself and the radio spat static as it crackled to life.

"Hurry the hell up and get in!" He roared.

Wasting no time, I dove into the Decepticon's cab and flung myself across the seats. I bent my knees just as quickly so I wouldn't kick his door as he slammed it shut and took off as fast as he could, lights and sirens blaring loudly from their place on his roof.

"What the hell happened?" 'Cade demanded roughly and gave a warning growl.

I scrambled to properly seat myself on the passenger's side as he activated his scowling Holoform. The Holoform turned to me with an angry line set firmly on his lips. "Well, spit it out fleshling!" he snapped.

"Frenzy wanted to tagalong with me today," I stammered, "Rewind found us and Frenzy attacked him. I think he already sent a live feed though."

"No, he didn't." Barricade quickly shot down my idea.

"How come?" I asked.

"Rewind would need a Cybertronian signal transmitter tower…as it would happen humans don't have those," He sighed at my confused look and explained further, "Think of it like television signals. You need a specific dish for specific signals. Rewind doesn't have a feed dish to send his signals to. So if Frenzy manages to wipe his drives everything will end up alright."

"What about Steeljaw?" I asked.

Barricade slammed on his brakes at the stoplight despite the fact his siren and lights were still blaring. "What about Steeljaw?" He hissed.

"That's who I was running from." I spluttered.

Barricade let out a string of both human and Cybertronian curses before pulling to the curb, cutting his siren, and dissolving his Holoform.

"Soundwave, answer Soundwave," Barricade snapped through an open comm. Link.

Apparently he wasn't going to conceal the call.

***Soundwave acknowledges, status?*** the 3rd in Command answered.

"Deploy Lazerbeak and Ratbat." Barricade snapped, "Our human was spotted by two Autobots."

***Current Situation?*** The Decepticon's voice got lower and more angry.

"Frenzy's taking care of Rewind but Steeljaw was with him." Barricade growled.

***Deploying, Location?*** Soundwave acknowledged.

"Check everything within a radius of three miles of Frenzy's position." Barricade supplied knowing full well that the mental link between Soundwave and his symbiotes would allow easy tracking.

***Acknowledged*** Soundwave confirmed and cut the connection.

"Soundwave scares the hell out of me." I muttered.

"Oh, then I bet you'd just love Shockwave." Barricade rumbled sarcastically.

"Brother?" I asked.

"No, and never refer to them as such."

"Why not?"

"They'd both try to kill you fleshling…that much should have been obvious even for your primitive brain." He sighed.

"You sure know how to charm a femme." I muttered.

For a short moment his Holoform fizzled into existence only to smack me across the mouth and disappear once more. I raised my hand to smack him but…

"Smack my dashboard fleshy and I will throw you against the nearest building." Barricade threatened.

I knew he wasn't going to risk a sighting that would be investigated by the Autobots just so he could throw me at a building but I knew there were an abundance of things that he could do that were much worse. I wisely lowered my hand and set it in my lap. The cab rumbled slightly with his obvious satisfaction.

"Wise choice fleshling," Barricade snickered.

I rested my head in my hands and tried to ignore the dull pain on my thighs as my elbows dug against them to support my arms. _'I really hope the rest of my time doesn't have to be spent like this.'_ I thought to myself.

**~o~ Later That Day ~o~**

I sat on the hood of an old rusted blue truck with my legs folded up against my chest. For now I was left alone with Ravage who was watching me intently. "I am in so much trouble aren't I?" I mused aloud.

"With Barricade, no," Ravage said, "However Soundwave is kind of pissed."

"Lovely," I groaned.

"You're not the reason," Ravage went silent for a moment, "But there's a good chance you're going to receive the brunt of his bad mood."

"Then…what's got his wires in a knot?" I asked hesitantly.

"Starscream…" Ravage answered.

"Who's that?" I asked.

I hadn't heard much about a Starscream from any of them…

"He's Megatron's Second in Command," Ravage paused, "No one likes him. He's annoying and traitorous…always trying to overthrow Megatron."

"If he keeps trying to overthrow your leader then why is he Second in Command?" I asked, not quite getting the logic in that.

"Megs was a strong believer in keeping his friends close and his enemies closer," Ravage paused again for a few more moments before continuing, "But the thing is…Megs doesn't have 'friends'."

"What's with all the pausing?" I asked.

"Soundwave is having a fit over our bond. You honestly have no idea how annoying Screamer is." Ravage stretched back and gave a very organic-like yawn.

"Let's hope I don't have to find out today…" I mumbled, "I've had enough 'adventure' to last me the entire week."

**~o~**

**So that's the fourth chapter. I hope you enjoyed and please leave a review if so! I'm having a bit of trouble deciding what direction to take this in…but the next chapter will come soon enough.**

**Chow,**

**Songbird 0.o**


	5. Chapter 5

**Stolen Messages V**

**I haven't written anything for this in a while. Ah, well, I've been trying to catch up on my older stories here lately so here we go again. **

_**Just in case anyone wanted to know, that song Bumblebee dances to**__** with Tessa in the Commercial is called I Wanna Go by Nikki Flores. You have to wait for a minute, she starts singing and then that clip plays right before the guy starts to rap.**_

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story! You guys are great! **

_Italics are flashbacks_

* * *

**~o~**

School…that was the last place I wanted to be.

It was finally Monday morning, meaning I had to get up at five o'clock and get ready to go to the large red-bricked building of horror and learn about things I didn't really care about. With a scowl, I readjusted my reading glasses and walked up to the stairs.

My locker was near the gym and I normally never used the thing. Today was just one of those days where I didn't have a choice though.

_I blinked in confusion as my backpack started wiggling around and a sharp ripping sound came bursting from inside it. The shock was enough to send me crashing off of my bike and slamming into the gravel driveway I had been passing._

_I frantically ripped the bag open and my eyes widened as I saw frenzy curled up inside of it looking awkwardly scrunched up._

_ "What…in the blue fuck…are you doing?" I hissed slowly._

_ "I'm going to school." Frenzy laughed._

_ "No, no you're not." I seethed and tried to dump him out._

_ "Ah, ah, ah," Frenzy tsk'd and held on with his claws, "You've got fifteen minutes to get to school. That's not enough time to take me back now is it?" _

_I groaned in frustration and tied the bag back up. _

_ "You're staying in the locker." I snapped._

_ "Yes ma'am," Frenzy mocked and then snickered hysterically._

I had been ready to punt the stupid mech, along with my bag, at the time but I had no time to waste if I wanted to make it to class on time.

I walked into Calculus, ducking a paper wad someone threw, and shrugged out of my Jean Jacket, revealing a grey t-shirt with a sunflower in the middle. I took a seat and dug around in my bag for my homework.

"Fleshling," A female voice came from above me.

I froze, my blood chilling almost instantly. I slowly sat up, a death grip on my homework. I'd recognize those bright blue eyes and blonde hair anywhere.

"Alice?" I hissed in horror.

"Yeah," she grumbled and took a seat behind before leaning forward to whisper, "If you're smart you'll listen to me."

"I am smart, that's why I _don't_ listen to you," I spat through grit teeth.

Alice merely growled and weaved sharp claws into my hair. "Listen squish," she glowered, "Barricade told me to warn you. There's a seeker raid…around lunchtime and it's hitting the school."

Alice sat back a huffed, "He said you'd best be making yourself scarce around then."

With that, the Decepticon pretender stood, stretched out, and walked right out of class. I rested my chin on my knuckle and grumbled.

At least school wouldn't be in session for a while…

* * *

**~o~ Lunchtime ~o~**

I had bolted...

As soon as the lunch bell had rang I had smacked notes onto a few my friend's lockers to meet me at Jilly's Cupcake Bar for lunch and then booked out the front door.

I came to a screeching halt as I remembered I had shoved Frenzy in my locker.

"Shit!" I shouted and spun on my heels.

I took two steps…_two_ _**steps**_.

And then there was a loud thunder-boom of sound as the school went up in a fireball of flames. Kids went rushing from the scene, some being carried by others, others crawling out of the wreck.

"FRENZY!"

* * *

**~o~**

**I apologize for the lack of length to this chapter! Really, I'll make it up to you guys next time!**

**Songbird 0.o**


	6. Chapter 6

**Stolen Messages VI**

**Again, last chapter was incredibly short. So I hope this update came fast enough to make up for it. Thank you to my reviewer! It's always nice to see feedback from anybody really.**

* * *

**~o~ Dakota ~o~**

I had run back into the building, well what was left of it at least, and began digging through the rubble. Hissing in pain as the molten pieces of rubble cut into my hands and legs. I heard firemen shouting as they ran towards me. I screamed and kicked, fighting every step of the way as they dragged me away from the debris.

I was monitored from where they had placed me in the medic's ambulance and was checked over and treated for minor burns. I scowled, mostly at the doctors.

"What the hell possessed you to run back into the remains of a burning building?" The doctor snapped as he tried to get my attention.

I panicked before quickly thinking up a lie. "Something very valuable to me was in my locker." I told him as nonchalantly as I possibly could.

I smirked, "Did you forget your phone?" he asked and managed to make it sound condescending.

I glared at him, "The only remaining thing I have of a long-since gone friend." I huffed.

The doctor merely shrugged, ending the conversation. I thought about what I had just said. I'd been hanging around the Decepticons too long. Lying was becoming too easy to do.

A police siren blared through the air, catching my attention. The siren did its job and people parted ways for what they thought was an officer. However the cop that stepped out had an all-too-familiar pair of luminescent red eyes. I smiled sheepishly as 'Officer Cade' made a beeline for the ambulance I was sitting at.

"Dakota," he grumbled.

"Excuse me," the doctor grabbed Cade's arm which he roughly yanked back.

"What?" he snapped.

"Do you know this child?" The doctor asked inspecting Cade up and down.

"Yeah, what of it," Barricade grunted.

"You'd be wise to explain to her why it was a bad idea to run back to a burned down building," The Doctor glared and then turned to me, "Get out of here; you're fine."

I hopped down, giving Cade the opportunity to latch onto my arm and drag me back to his car form and shove me inside. After the seatbelt latched over my person on its own, Barricade maneuvered his Holoform into the driver's seat and shut the door.

Barricade then turned to me, red eyes glowing ominously, "What happened?"

"Frenzy tagged along with me to school this morning. As payback for shredding the inside of my bag I locked him in the locker so I could get him back at the end of the day. I forgot about him in there and the seekers attacked before I could get back in there to get him." I explained with a sigh.

Barricade was silent before he merely shook his head and almost violently went streaking out onto the main road. "I killed him didn't I?" I sighed after a moment.

"No," Cade grumbled.

"No?"

"He's still in there. He contacted me not too long ago," Barricade explained.

I sighed in relief and then thought for a moment. "When are we going to go get him?" I asked.

"There is no 'we'," Cade growled, "Just me. You screwed up."

"And you're not going to let me fix it?"

"No."

"Why not," I huffed, "I can get up early tomorrow. There's no school!"

"I said no." he repeated and tightened his hands on the wheel.

"Well I'm coming anyway." I replied.

"No, you're not."

"Yes I am."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"I can do this all day," I warned, "I babysit a group of three kids every Wednesday!"

"I'll just have Ravage keep you in line." He shrugged.

"You are so stubborn!" I groaned and crossed my arms to pout.

Barricade merely flicked my head lightly, "There's no winning against me flesh-lump." He snickered.

I just swatted his hand away and stared out the window.

* * *

**The Next Morning **

I was a psycho…or at least I was in the process of becoming one. It was four in the fucking morning and I had decided to dress and try and attempt escaping Ravage. My attempts were fruitless of course as the big hunk of alien metal cat had found me out in under a full three minutes. I was currently being walked back to my home with guns bumping into my back every so often when I moved too slowly.

"Your persistence is going to get you killed." Ravage purred.

"That so?" I replied with a grumpy huff.

Ravage just whacked me with his tail and spat out a suspicious looking green liquid. I crinkled my nose in disgust and moved a little faster.

"You act like you want to be monitored fleshling," Ravage said a few moments.

"Aren't I already under surveillance?" I asked.

"I meant with that watch we had pegged on Dylan." He rumbled with dark laughter.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and looked away from the alien cat. "Yeah, whatever." I crossed my arms, almost hugging myself.

When we finally had walked all the way back to my home Ravage directed me to the driveway where Barricade was waiting in his alternate form.

"Well, get in fleshling." Ravage hissed and crawled into the backseat.

With a nervous breath I climbed into the opened passenger's side. Barricade went screeching out of the driveway the moment the door slammed shut. The Decepticon sped down the roads as fast as he could, the nervous tension seeping into the air.

Silence reigned for the next few minutes.

"We're relocating you." Barricade said at last.

I choked on my own breath and glared down at the radio. "Relocating?! What do you mean Relocating?!" I demanded.

"Calm down fleshy," Barricade growled.

"No!" I snarled and beat on the windows and yanked at the door handles, "Let me out you stupid second rate scout!"

Then I screamed.

It wasn't like the other times he electrocuted me. This wasn't a tiny zap; this was along the lines of sticking a metal rod into a livewire. I whimpered when he finished.

"When someone offers you a safe place to go you take it," Barricade fumed, "Now show some respect you worthless pile of flesh."

"Why?" I hiccupped.

"The Autobots are here." Barricade grunted.

Again, there was silence. "What about my family?" I asked, "What happens to them?"

"They won't know," He growled, "Besides, did you really believe we were aware of their decision to stop feeding us information?"

My stomach churned with hate and regret as he revealed my worst nightmare. "You knew along…" I whispered in horror.

"Like it wasn't obvious? You're family is under constant surveillance. Luckily for you, you're a self-sacrificing bitch. You fed us our information behind your parents' backs like a good little traitor. Letting you believe we didn't know made it so much easier." He laughed sickly.

"I hate you." I whispered and blinked away tears, "I hate you so damn much."

Barricade didn't get a chance to reply as a pair of bright headlights was his only warning before a Semi Peterbilt with an all too familiar paintjob crashed into the driver's side of his frame.

* * *

**Wow, I always feel like these come too late. I need to work on my updates. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and to all the readers who followed through with this story and even favorite it. You guys are awesome.**

**Songbird 0.o**


	7. Chapter 7

**Stolen Messages VII **

**Well, it's been over a year since I've posted this…quite a while and I apologize for that. I ran out of interest and inspiration but now I'm back and I'll hopefully be continuing this story more often now. Thank you to everyone who stuck with the story.**

* * *

**~o~ Dakota ~o~**

The saving factor of the crash was the fact that Barricade's frame was heavily armored. The door crunched just enough to leave a wide dent, sending Cade spinning into the sidewalk like a top. Cade snarled for only a second before initiating his transformation sequence.

I screeched as I was thrown from his cab and onto someone's front lawn. I groaned, clutching my head as I picked myself up from the ground but quickly wrenched my hand away as something warm and wet began to seep onto my fingers. I was only vaguely aware of the two aliens battling it out in the street, but it sounded pretty bad.

I managed to get to my feet after a bit of a struggle but everything was spinning. I wobbled slightly as I tried to run away from the fight, letting out a soft screech as a thunderous crash emitted much too close to my liking and shook the ground hard enough to send me tumbling forward down the hill of the lawn and dropping onto the pavement below.

I scrambled to my feet again and began running despite the thrumming pain in my head and the vertigo. There were a series of loud shouts and suddenly the roaring of engines. I ducked into the space between two houses and collapsed behind some dumpsters to catch my breath. I panted harshly as I waited for my vision to clear and rubbed at my eyes.

"What the hell is going on out there?" I muttered and peered over the edge of the dumpsters as the sounds of sirens and loud shouting began to get louder around me.

"Dakota."

I froze on the spot, fists gripping tighter on the dumpster as I slowly turned to see the last person I wanted to see.

"S-Steeljaw." I stammered and backed up flat against the wall.

"Why are you afraid of me?" the golden colored cassette queried, "I just want to help you."

"Why? How did you even know I was in danger?" I replied.

"Since Dylan's death we've been searching for the other families under his control. Your father was one of his associates." Steeljaw's eyes narrowed but he kept his distance, "Though that doesn't explain why you're with Barricade."

My eyes widened as I remembered that the con was currently in a battle with Optimus Prime. "Oh my god, Cade!" I yelped and immediately went bolting out of the alley.

"Dakota! Wait!" Steeljaw bellowed as he ran after me.

As I rushed down the street Ravage whizzed past me and collided head of with Steeljaw. The two immediately began to fight in a vicious mess of claws and sharp teeth. Silently thanking the cassette I continued to run back only to gasp in absolute shock as I found the Decepticon pinned down and being sprayed with some sort of white gas.

"Barricade!" I shouted and dashed forward.

"Hey! Get that kid!"

"Where?!"

"Over there!"

I cursed under my breath and forced myself to run faster. Gunshots could be heard behind me and I heard Frenzy laughing maniacally behind me as he shot at the shoulders.

But it was no use. I shrieked as someone suddenly grabbed me from behind and sent us both crashing to the ground. I cried out as my bounced off the pavement and he roughly forced my arms behind me. I thrashed in his grip, kicking and struggling.

I whimpered as I found my head pinned against the ground, tears streaming down my face as something suddenly poked my in the neck.

"Cade…" I called out hoarsely as my vision began to blot out. "Frenzy? Ravage? Anyone…?"

I received now answer as the final patched of my vision faded to nothingness.

* * *

**~o~**

"Yo, Lennox." A soldier called out.

The man looked over, surprised to see his comrade carrying a limp teenage girl over his shoulder. "What should I do with this one?"

"Who is she?" He asked.

"I think it's the daughter of that couple we were looking for." He replied, "She knew Cade and Ravage." He replied with a shrug.

"That child has wounds that need tending to." Ratchet quickly interjected from where he stood hovering over Barricade. I bright light swiftly ran over the teen's form. "She has multiple electroshock burns…from this one no doubt." He grumbled and lightly kicked the sedated Decepticon.

"Be careful with the human."

The humans and the Autobots looked over towards the dark voice to find Ravage glaring at them through the bars of his containment cell, having chewed through the 'muzzle' placed on him. The big cat merely smirked at them, "It's not like slipping through your human defenses will be hard. Cade and Soundwave won't be happy if their messenger is damaged."

"Messenger?" Ironhide barked as he stormed over, having aided Optimus in the fight. The latter of which was not far behind the weapon's specialist.

Ravage merely gave a sly smirk and turned away, "I'll let the human tell you about that." Ravage snickered.

Ironhide gave the human a distasteful look. "Humans. Even the little one's aren't pure." He spat.

"Do not jump to any conclusions old friend." Optimus said softly, though he had a hard time defending the human as well, "We will hear her argument back at base."

"We can get moving now if you're ready." Lennox spoke up, "My men are ready to move. But what're we going to do with him?" Lennox nodded towards Barricade.

"I'll carry him in the trailer." Optimus said and glanced to Ratchet who nodded.

"He's been administered enough sedative to keep him in stasis for the duration of the trip. We should be able to get him to base and secured on a berth in the Medbay before it wears off." Ratchet replied and rechecked the Decepticon's condition.

Optimus nodded in understanding. "Let's load him up."

* * *

**~o~**

Ravage cracked open an eye and peered out between the bars of his containment to see Dakota reclining awkwardly in the back of the military van. "Think she'll be okay?"

Ravage looked to Frenzy who looked slightly worried and sane for the first time in a while. The cassette shrugged and flicked his tail indecisively, "I don't know. But she's clever enough not to get herself in more trouble than she's already in."

"H-Hopefully." Frenzy sighed.

* * *

**~o~**

**A big thank you to Jasmine SiMing for reminding me of how long it's been since this thing was updated. Here it is. I hope it's up to par with your expectations. Expect more to come soon. **

**Thank you everyone. **

**Songbird 0.o**


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